Tonight, Christmas Eve, is when the real celebrations happen for Christmas in Sweden. Today is when Santa comes, and all the kids get super excited about presents. The meal is a big deal too, and always ends with gingersnaps. These cookies are my take on the delicious dessert.

Check out my other recommendations for the perfect Swedish Christmas Table here. And of course, Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and God Jul!

You can substitute high-quality candied citrus peel for the homemade. Avoid supermarket candied peel; good candied orange peel is available at gourmet markets and online.

Ginger Citrus Cookies Recipe

Servings:

5 dozen cookies

Ingredients

1 tspground ginger

1/4 tspground clvoes

1/2 tspground cinnamon

1/2 tspground cardamom

3 1/2 cups siftedall-purpose flour

1 tbspbaking soda

1 tspsalt

1/2 tsp freshly groundwhite pepper

10 tbsp (1 1/4 sticks)unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cupsugar

1/2 cuppacked light brown sugar

2 largeeggs

3/4 cupmolasses

1 cup finely choppedcandied citrus peel

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. Toast the ginger, cloves, cinnamon, and cardamom in a small skillet over medium heat, stirring with a wooden spoon, for 2 to 3 minutes, until fragrant. Remove from the heat.

3. Sift the flour, toasted spices, baking soda, salt, and white pepper into a bowl or onto a sheet of wax paper.

4. In a large bowl, beat the butter and both sugars with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Beat in the molasses. Gradually beat int he flour mixture. Stir in the candied citrus peel.

5. Drop rounded tablespoons of the dough onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing the cookies 2 inches apart. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until the tops feel firm when lightly touched. Cool on the baking sheets for about 2 minutes, then transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

By Suzannah Schneider

Meet the Team

Whether it’s finding the best goat tacos in LA, spotting a well-worn vintage bag in Sweden, or interviewing the “crab man” selling seafood on a corner in Harlem, we tell stories seen from Chef Marcus Samuelsson‘s point of view. MarcusSamuelsson.com strives to create conversations about food, nutrition, culture, art, and design. We want to find Read More